http://www.whig.com/289374784520668.php

Days before her 10-year-old son died, Chriss Bossey said her ex-husband told her by phone "the next time she would see Scotty would be in his casket."

Bossey was the first witness Monday in the murder trial of Martin Laskowski, 48, who is charged with the drug-induced homicide of his son. Scott Laskowski was found dead of an Oxycodone overdose in his Plymouth residence on Nov. 19, 2004.

Bossey was married to Martin Laskowski for 14 years, and Scott, a fourth-grader at Southeastern's Bowen Middle School when he died, was their only child. Bossey moved from Plymouth to Florida in July 2004 and testified Monday that she kept in contact with her son by phone.

She cried when Hancock County State's Attorney Jim Drozdz showed her a school portrait of her son. She spoke slowly but clearly when talking about the last time she called her son, about four or five days before he died.

Authorities found Scott dead inside the Plymouth residence lying next to his father, who had self-inflicted stab wounds.

Bossey testified Martin Laskowski told her during that last phone conversation he was thinking of taking their son to Canada or Wisconsin. Martin Laskowski had recently been arrested for hunting violations and had violated an Adams County 2003 retail theft probation sentence, which meant he'd probably have to serve jail time and lose custody of his son.

The bench trial is being heard by Judge David Stoverink. It took three hours Monday morning to hear a pre-trial motion, and nine witnesses took the stand in the afternoon in 2 1/2 hours.

Laskowski's friend and Plymouth neighbor, Louis Lambert, testified he got a call Nov. 19, 2004, from a Michigan State Police trooper. Lambert said Laskowski's mother called the police and told them Laskowski found his son dead and was going to kill himself.

Lambert testified he stood on Laskowski's porch and knocked on the door but got no answer. Minutes later, local law enforcement officers arrived, he said.

Lambert, who also testified as a court-approved defense witness, said Scott and Martin Laskowski "were very close" and enjoyed hunting and fishing together.

"I really believe Scott was his (Laskowski's) life," Lambert said.

Chriss Bossey would sometimes call her ex-husband when he was at Lambert's house, and Lambert said Chriss "was very loud" on the phone.

"The mother had issues," Lambert said. "I never saw any physical abuse, but they argued a lot."

Lambert also testified that while he never heard Scott Laskowski say he didn't want to live with his mother, "by listening to him talk I assumed he didn't."

Bossey's mother, Lucille Brozowski, testified she got a call from Martin Laskowski at her Florida home the night before Scott Laskowski died. Bossey wasn't home, and Brozowski said Martin Laskowski told her Chriss had "15 minutes to get ahold of me or we'll be gone."

Several Southeastern school employees testified they became concerned about Scott Laskowski missing school from Nov. 11 until Nov. 19. Former middle school secretary Wendy Mattson said she called the Laskowski house each day from Nov. 15 through Nov. 19, but never got an answer.

Adams County Probation Officer Donna Baird, who supervised Martin Laskowski's probation, testified that she was contacted by Southeastern administrator Nancy Akers. She called the Hancock County Sheriff's Department Nov. 19 to check on Scott Laskowski.

Baird said she was concerned Martin Laskowski "was a flight risk." She also contacted the Department of Child and Family Services in case Scott Laskowski had to be removed from the home.

Hancock County Sheriff John Jefferson testified about taking Martin Laskowski from Blessing Hospital to a mental health facility in Danville in December 2004. Jefferson said Laskowski blamed the death of his son on his wife.

Laskowski, Jefferson said, asked his ex-wife to come back to Plymouth three weeks before their son died.

"He said he wanted Chriss to come back, but Scott did not," Jefferson said.

Earlier Monday, Stoverink said the state could not use a videotape taken inside the Laskowski residence three days after Scott's death because it was turned in as evidence too late. He also said items seized in February 2005, including two suicide notes and a drinking glass, could not be used as evidence.

Police videotaped the removal of the items, but the video was later accidentally erased when something else was taped over it, Jefferson said.

Hancock County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Bill Ferrill testified Tuesday morning that he found Martin and Scott Laskowski laying on a bed in the master bedroom. He said Martin Laskowski had his arm around Scott. He said both were covered with blood, but that Scott had no stab wounds.

"Scott was blue," Ferrill said. "I touched him and he was cold and lifeless. It was obvious to me that Scott was dead and Martin was still alive."

Ferrill testified that Martin Laskowski told him his son "took my pills."

The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

7 days til NC

i went to Aquinas today with Caitlin, it was pretty cool....i LOVE the campus